


The moon whispers stories (the sea comes closer to listen)

by Amazaria



Category: One Piece
Genre: (but most of it is rather spoilery), (spoilers specified in the notes of each chapter), Character Study, Drabble Collection, Ficlet Collection, Gen, I have been burned before. I would not dare, Platonic Relationships, for more details please refer to the chapter notes!, to all of you out there: I swear I did not misuse the gen tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:56:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 7,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26147536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amazaria/pseuds/Amazaria
Summary: The world is made of stories, and this one has a focus.Or... several focuses. Actually, a lot of focuses. There's a possibility these are all completely unrelated, very short stories.(or: a collection of all the One Piece prompts I've written.)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 45





	1. just some kind of miracle, (robin)

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: just some kind of miracles  
> characters: robin  
> type: introspection/character study/ (platonic!) relationship study  
> spoiler level: post-marineford arc  
> additional notes: devotion  
> archive warnings: none apply

_Fearless_ , people whisper about her captain, and Robin doesn't quite agree, but she doesn't disagree either.

Luffy isn't fearless, or at least he isn't in the way they expect him to be; he isn't unconcerned by everything and anything, isn't so confident in his own strength that he does not care about what may become a threat to him. Luffy isn't fearless, but maybe he was at some point, before Ace and Kuma and all that had ever seemed precious disappearing before his eyes, as quickly as a piece of paper burning or a body crumbling onto the ground.

Luffy _was_ fearless, but he isn't, not anymore. It's not- it's tragic, Robin thinks, but it's a quiet kind of tragedy, buried under a bigger one.

Luffy _was_ fearless, and he still is, and he never was. Luffy knows that he can lose, now, and he still throws himself at impossible challenges.

Robin hadn't been able to do that, but then Robin's situation had been quite different from Luffy's, in that she had been younger, more alone, and hadn't had the will of the D.

(There is no doubt in Robin's mind that her captain will be King. There had been -she's fairly certain only Zoro believed in him from day one, and perhaps Brook, too-, but it all disappeared a long time ago. That does not make it a certain event; Robin had had no doubt that working with Crocodile would have gotten her answers, after all, and she had been wrong (or maybe she had been right, because she had met Luffy there, after all, and wasn't that all the answer she needed?).

She believes that Luffy will be King because he said so, and she has not yet seen him break a promise; she believes he will be King because he wants to, and anything he wants they will accomplish, as long as he is leading them; she believes because he is her captain and she is his archeologist.)

Luffy is not fearless _._ If he was, why would he sit by his first mate's bedside after yet another battle, why would he cling to his long-lost brother with all that he has? Why would he protect them, why would he protect anything?

Luffy is not fearless. He is not brave, either, brave in the way Usopp is, trembling but still facing danger. 

(Luffy does not tremble. Luffy stands or Luffy shatters; he is fighting or fallen; he does not hesitate, does not wonder. He is not brave, because that would imply being scared for himself and still choosing to risk what he has.)

Luffy is a conqueror, a leader. The fear he has, he has for what he considers his.

He is not _fearless,_ not ever, because he worries; but he is, because he trusts them.

(Robin thinks this trust is some kind of miracle, a particularity that makes their captain charismatic and terrifying.

There is something terrifying in Luffy's confidence, and Robin would call it overconfidence if it didn't feel like a stab in her captain's back. There is something terrifying in the possibility of failing him, of being the one to darken his smile even a little bit.

It's the reason why they follow him, though; the overwhelming trust, the sheer amount of possibility, the refusal of being afraid and rational.)

People whisper that Luffy is fearless, and Robin will let them be terribly and awfully wrong.

As long as she knows the truth.


	2. and the sun shines bright, (jinbe&luffy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: and the sun shines bright  
> characters: luffy&jinbe  
> type: retelling of canon scene/ (platonic!) relationship study  
> spoiler level: post-marineford arc  
> additional notes: loyalty  
> archive warnings: none apply

There is no sun deep in Impel Down.

It makes sense, that there wouldn't be; they're deep under the sea, after all, and moreover they're _inside a building._ But- well, Fishman Island is under the sea, and the sun reaches it perfectly. Even inside the Ryugu Palace, the rooms were bright and lit up, but Impel Down is cold and dark and utterly boring. 

Impel Down isn't the worst place Jinbe's been to, not by a long shot; especially Level 6, which isn't as cruel as it is bland. It's not the most pleasant he's been to, either, especially when he's supposed to spend the rest of his life here. Without the light of the sun.

Because there's no sun in Impel Down. No warmth in Impel Down. Nothing at all in Impel Down, except the restraints around him, the stone against his back, and the other prisoners' muttering, which frankly he could do without.

Ace had been pleasant to talk to, and even bound in seastone chains, had felt warm; a side-effect of his Devil Fruit, probably. But- well, he's gone, now, his brother chasing after him like that's what brothers do, like they go through 5 different kinds of hell for each other, and maybe even more, if that's what it takes to save each other.

(Of course that's what they do. Aladine would do that, if Jinbee hadn't ordered him not to.

Arlong wouldn't.)

Ace left, or more accurately was taken away; and his brother went after him, and Jinbe's in Impel Down, and Jinbe _misses the sun._

(It has nothing to do with Ace, nothing to do with Aladine, and definitely nothing to do with Monkey D. Luffy's aura, which he doesn't even seem to be aware of, which burns bright and bright and harsh, unforgiving, driven to realize an impossible goal. Nothing to do with any of that, or so Jinbe tells himself.

And when Jinbe holds Luffy's unconscious and bloodstained body later, his aura flickering like a dying candle, or something even more fragile than that, and finds himself missing the sun even while standing under its rays, well, it has nothing to do with Luffy either.)


	3. above the treetops, (nami)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: above the treetops  
> characters: nami, chopper  
> type: introspection/character study, missing scene  
> spoiler level: Zou arc  
> additional note: loyalty  
> archive warning: none apply

The night after Sanji leaves, or is taken away, Nami wanders the city aimlessly.

It's always strange, to be the one left behind. She'd been the first one to leave, once, and she's never gotten used to the fact that the others could do that, too.

It's even stranger, without Luffy here. There's no telling when he or the others will get here, and Nami feels strangely off-balance, like their temporary separation is bringing back unpleasant memories.

She hates this. Sanji gone; the others far away; her trapped in the middle of it all, waiting as their cook gets further and further away with each passing second.

"Nami?" Says a voice at her right, and she looks down to find Chopper peering worriedly up at her.

"Hey," she answers quietly. "What are you doing awake?"

"I was worried about Sanji," says Chopper, and of course he was.

(Nami's mostly pissed.

Arlong, and Alabasta, and Enies Lobby- Sanji was there for all of it. What possessed him to give up so quickly, like he didn't have any faith in them? In Luffy?)

"Well," says Nami, and finds herself lacking the energy to be sharp, and disappointed, and just lets herself be hurt and worried.

She tilts her head backwards, to the sky. The shade of the tree hides the stars and the moon, and she finds herself lost without her ever-constant map in the sky. It's just another thing that's off-balance: the crew separated, Sanji gone, her way lost.

"It'll be alright. Luffy will get him back," murmurs Chopper.

"Yeah," answers Nami in kind. "And until then, we wait."

The stars and moon will reappear soon enough.


	4. like sunflowers follow the sun, (rayleigh&roger pirates)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: like sunflowers follow the sun  
> characters: rayleigh  
> type: introspection/character study  
> spoiler level: post-sabaody arc  
> additional note: grief/mourning  
> archive warning: none apply

It's not that Rayleigh's angry at his crew.

Or, well, he is; but he doesn't think he gets to be, because they haven't reached out to him, sure, but he didn't exactly do it either, now did he? So he doesn't get to be angry; and he doesn't get to be disappointed; and he doesn't get to miss them.

They're not even a crew, not anymore. Roger's gone and dead and buried, and a crew without a captain isn't much of a crew at all.

But- but they had to have been friends, at least, or so Rayleigh had thought. They had been family, or something approaching, at some point; and now Rayleigh's not even sure they're still friends, thinks the word in itself isn't enough to encompass what they went through together, the myth they built for their captain because they loved him that much.

They're not a crew, not anymore; and Roger's not alive, not anymore; and yet Rayleigh misses them still, doesn't want to believe that Roger had been the only thing keeping them together, even if the evidence is right in front of him and impossible to deny.

They'd been following Roger, drawn to him like moths to a lantern, like sunflowers to the sun, like dreamers to a hope. That had been what kept them together, Rayleigh guesses.

And when their sun died, well, it died. Nothing to follow anymore, and what kind of dreamer looks for another dreamer in the middle of hopelessness? Better to carry the weight of your broken hopes alone, lest someone asks you to take on theirs on your shoulders. That might be what gets you to finally collapse.

(Rayleigh would have been willing to collapse, even more than he already had, or so he thinks. He would have been willing to mourn another dream, if that had meant companionship; if that had meant understanding.)

They separated, and Roger hadn't ever ordered Rayleigh to find them again, so maybe he knew, that it would go like that; that he was too essential to the crew, that without him they would just look at each other and reopen wounds that no one had the energy to try and heal. Or maybe he had too much faith in them, but that had always been Roger.

They never reached out, and neither did Rayleigh, so he doesn't get to be angry; and he doesn't get to be disappointed; and he doesn't get to miss them.

(Well, he's a pirate. He's never been good at following the rules.)


	5. trust (ace&sabo)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: trust  
> characters: ace&sabo  
> type: missing scene/(platonic!) relationship study  
> spoiler level: post-marineford arc  
> additional note: angst  
> archive warning: none apply

The first fight he and Sabo have is about trust.

They are painfully young, teeth bared and skin still too soft for the hits they throw at each other not to land. He can't remember where it starts, him asking Sabo about his clothes or Sabo asking about his anger, but he remembers where it ends: spitting blood on the ground, looking at Sabo, the both of them laced with mistrust, shaking with anger. Thinking, _ha, see? I knew he'd end up hating me, too._

He snarls, and says, "We can't be partners if you don't trust me, Sabo".

And his first friend snarls right back, and scoffs.

"Anyone would be a fool to trust you, Ace."

oOo

The last fight he and Sabo have is also about trust.

Sabo held back, shaking behind arms bigger than his; and Ace, pleading, pleading, for him to trust them, trust Luffy, trust _him,_ and _stay, stay, please stay, you're the first thing I had that I never could make myself lose._

Sabo, walking away, lips bit until he bled, lying because children of Grey Terminal knew that the truth was too cruel in its honesty; lying because the tears on his cheeks are much too honest, and Ace _hates hates hates_ him for leaving, for thinking that he's saving them, for _not trusting them._

(And weeks later, Sabo drowns or burns or both, because Ace wasn't there, because Ace didn't rescue him, because Ace _didn't trust him_ and all Ace can hear is-

_Anyone would be a fool to trust you, Ace.)_


	6. love is an echo (brook&robin&sanji)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: love is an echo  
> characters: brook, sanji, robin  
> type: (platonic!) relationship study/character study  
> spoiler level: post-WCI arc  
> additional note: fluff  
> archive warning: none apply

There are, Brook knows, so many people who have loved him.

Each differently- easily, or fiercely, or absent-mindedly, or reluctantly. But Brook knows people loved him, never doubted that; never had to. The question that haunted him, and still will, was _does it matter? does it matter, enough, that I was loved, if I am not now, if they are gone?_

It was never a question of whether people loved him, only a question of whether he deserved it, and he hadn't realized, before joining the Strawhats, how lucky that was- to have a love to question.

Robin and Sanji are similar only in the quietest of way. Their love is permanent, and kind, and soft, and so hidden that they have to have been taught that love is something rare and precious, strange and unusual.

Sanji and Robin love in small gestures, and smiles that they do not hide, and laughs that they do not stifle. They love when they speak the words they think instead of staying quiet; they love when they fall asleep at anyone's side and trust. They love quietly, and naturally, and always seem caught off-guard by how easily it comes to them.

Both of them, so wide-eyed when someone loves them in return; when Nami drops a new book in Robin's lap, when Franky designs Sanji that one pan he had talked about three weeks ago, give or take. Both of them, so surprised, when their love is repaid, as if someone has taught them to never expect more than caring quietly for people, and never getting anything in return.

Love, Brook knows, is an echo. The louder you speak, the more you'll get back; and echoes are rare, so love will not be paid back always, but sometimes it will, and that's enough.

Love is an echo; it lingers long after the original voice has faded. It reaches people.

Robin and Sanji love quietly, afraid both of them of what would happen if someone evil heard that echo, but never fail to reach their crew either. Brook, who knows not the rarity of love but learned the warmth of it somewhere in-between mists and grief, watches, full of gratitude, as they whisper trust and carry it to him wrapped in spices or words, and gives back in laughs and songs.

Love is an echo, and Brook could make a thousand symphonies out of his crewmates' heartfelt whispers. But those are too precious, probably; so he'll just add two other names on the list of people who have loved him, and his gratitude will carry for eternity, because love is an echo, and nobody is ever there to hear an echo die.


	7. illusory, (koala)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: illusory  
> characters: koala  
> type: character study/speculation  
> spoiler level: post-dressrosa arc  
> additional note: one of my fav. angst of some kind.  
> archive warning: none apply

Koala doesn't want a happy ending.

She'd like it, sure; would enjoy more than others would, maybe, would know how precious and rare and slippery it is, would cling and cling and cling to it until her breath couldn't come for fear it'd be ripped away from her.

But Koala doesn't _want_ a happy ending. She wouldn't know what to do with it, she thinks.

She knows what endings are. They're fair, sometimes, unfair, more often. They're for everyone, and at least that's fair, or maybe unfair, who knows? They scare people but she doesn't care if hers painful or not, fast or not, useful or not. She has the utter nothingness of death so seared inside her eyelids that she sometimes thinks closing her eyes will be all it takes.

Koala doesn't _want_ a happy ending. She doesn't think it exists, anyway; it's a storyteller's device and she got too old for stories ages ago, didn't she?

She wants to be happy, sure, doesn't everyone? And she is sometimes, but it's fleeting and fragile and as quick to die as everything in her world is, as quick to fade as secrets, as quick to break as trust. She likes it better that way, knows for a fact that when you have something forever it loses its colors right before your eyes without you ever seeing it; she clings to the colors on her happiness like it's the answer to all the questions she'll never get to ask the dead or the murderers.

But she doesn't want a happy ending, what even would it be, anyway? A happy ending isn't an _ending_ , not really, it's a guarantee of continued happiness, it's the possibility of an easy life, it's _they lived happily ever after_ and _the evil was defeated_ _and sealed away and the heroes finally got to rest_. A happy ending isn't defined, is so blurry that she'd reject it should she reach it, for fear of it disappointing her. A happy ending means no more purpose, means the loss of that driving force she's never not had, and what is she, without it, uh? What are any of them, without the blood and the ruthlessness and the need to know _why_ , and the urge to scream or maybe stay silent for ever and ever and ever?

(Koala wants a happy ending, so badly, more than anything she's ever wanted, maybe. She's so scared she'll never get it; she's so sure she'll never get it.

Koala wants a happy ending because it means an ending, and she needs to catch her breath, or learn how to breathe for the first time ever.

But there's few things as cutting as hope, few things as dangerous as dreaming while wide awake, so if anyone asks-)

Koala doesn't want a happy ending.


	8. somewhere in the distance, the sun smiles (chopper)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: somewhere in the distance, the sun smiles  
> characters: chopper, (luffy)  
> type: (platonic!) relationship study  
> spoiler level: post-drum arc  
> additional notes: fluff  
> archive warning: none apply

Chopper often thinks about his captain.

Mostly he worries, because Luffy runs at undefeatable foes like reality means nothing to him, or like maybe it did at some point, then it hurt his friends, and now it doesn't matter anymore. There's some awe in there, too, because Luffy defies the world and succeeds; there's fondness and love and devotion and- really, there's a lot.

(Chopper cares about his crewmates, a lot.)

He remembers being little and strange and left behind, remembers that back then his fur never seemed quite enough to shield him from the cold; but now, he realizes, now the harsh cold is a faded memory, because it'd be hard to feel alone or left behind or worthless around Luffy, who looks at his crewmates like they are the sole reason the sun still rises in the morning.

(It's laughable, really, because if there's anything that Chopper knows, besides plants and medicine and the knowledge that he will make the world kneel before his King if Luffy asked him to, it's that Luffy is way more important than the sun.

The sun falls under the sea at night, doesn't it? And all is fine: the world still turns, the sea still sings, and Chopper's heart beats on undisturbed, free from fear and worry.

But when Luffy falls- oh, when his captain falls, the world is a rush of panic and faith tainted with worry. It's protectiveness and knowledge that his captain will rise above this, it's pride, - _you will be King_ ,- uncertainty mixed with awe, - _why did you ever think me worthy of you,_ \- and fear - _what would my world look like if you weren't there_ -.

The sun is nothing compared to Luffy.)

Chopper looks below, to the deck, where his captain is telling his musician stories enthusiastically, and trusts.

Somewhere in the distance, the (his) sun smiles


	9. miracles, (robin)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: miracles  
> characters: robin  
> type: introspection/character study  
> spoiler level: post-return to Sabaody arc  
> additional notes: one of my fav  
> archive warnings: none apply

Miracles do not exist.

It's hard to believe, sometimes, when Robin looks at her captain, when she stares in silence at one of her crewmates' unmoving body and hear them keep breathing despite it all. It's hard to believe, that this kind of luck, this incredible and precious way of life she has made a point to get used to, is not a gift from gods that have always rained hell down on her.

But miracles do not exist. Robin knows that; has learned that, as she has learned to recognize the sound of a wall crumbling, of a boat sinking, of a heart stopping. Miracles do not exist; it is a law, it is a fact, it's written somewhere in the great book that she keeps in her head, next to all her certitudes.

Miracles do not exist; and Robin lives with Monkey D. Luffy, and she spent two years alongside Monkey D. Dragon, and miracles do not exist.

Miracles are -would be- a gift, from someone, something. An act of kindness, a proof or mercy, a comfort, and Robin believes in kindness much more than she believes in fairness, but she doesn't believe in fairness much.

Her miracles, that she keeps close to her chest -all the laughs she has collected, all the books that have not yet burned, sank, died- she has earned. All her miracles have been earned- they were never given. 

Her navigator's pens still have blood on it- how dare they call her skill a gift? Her musician sang aloud alone for fifty years to remember his songs- how dare they call his ease a gift? Her swordsman's bones ache on cold mornings, her captain's smile is just a little dimmer than it used to be- how dare they call his survival a miracle, how dare they, how dare they?

How dare they proclaim that it was all given to them, that all of it was a fluke, a favor done by some benevolent god, as if gods have ever been benevolent to any of them- how dare they imply that they have not clawed their way to happiness, how dare they, how dare they?

Miracles do not exist, have never existed, will never exist. Robin is not alone, and that is not a miracle, that has not been given- she has fought for it, she will still, _this is not a gift._

(Miracles do not exist, of course not. She knows that, has it engraved somewhere on her heart next to the curiosity that belonged to Ohara and has outlived the island; if miracles existed then the Tree of Knowledge never would have fallen, and the books never would have burned. 

And maybe some would call Luffy saving her in Alabasta a miracle, but-

But if miracles existed Ohara wouldn't have burned.

And so maybe Luffy is some kind of miracle to a few of her crewmates- but all that they have they fought for, and all that they fought for they suffered for.

Miracles don't exist- and all that they have they made, and it was not given, and she owes no one and nothing beyond those she chose a long time ago she'd give her life for.)


	10. robin, roving school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: robin leading some kind of roving school  
> characters: robin  
> type: AU? some kind of modern AU. I guess this could be canon retelling as well  
> spoiler level: post-Fishman Island just to be sure, but the spoilers here are extremely vague  
> additional notes: ordinary kindness  
> archive warnings: none apply

"I'm sorry, sir, but this is intended to be for children," says Robin, and the green-haired, one-eyed man in front of him scowls while his companion beams.

"Couldn't you make an exception for once?" Pleads the redhead next to them. "I know this is a lot to ask, and I'm pretty sure Luffy won't get any of it, but Zoro really could use the help. He wouldn't disturb you, I swear."

Robin tilts her head to the side, somewhat amused at the woman speaking about her two friends like pets rather than people. "What would you ask of me?"

"Only that you teach them how to read, and maybe some basic maths, too. Only while you're here! I know that's a lot to ask, but- well, those two have a reputation here, you see, and neither ever thought it smart to learn how to read." At that she turns to glare at her companions, and they both shrink. The green-haired (Zoro?) scowls while the other (Luffy?) pouts at her, but none of those seem to have any effect.

"Please," says the woman. "You'd be the only one that would actually give them a chance, and it would ease my mind to be able to give them written down orders."

"Well, if they want to learn, it would be cruel of me to send them away," muses Robin, and smiles at her new students. "And your names are?"

"Luffy," grins the shorter, lankier one, while the sulky one grunts, "Zoro."

"And I'm Nami," adds the woman. "Thank you, so much. If there's anything we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

And that's how Robin ends up with Zoro and Luffy (no last names given) in her makeshift school, the first focused, the second more energetic. He uses his energy to make the rest of her smaller students laugh, and she doesn't miss how people stop coming around to threaten them once they spot him in his weathered straw hat, so she lets it slide good-naturedly.

At the end of the first week, she finds someone waiting for them outside her makeshift classroom, which is just a room in a building Luffy said she could use 'cause "Makino'd be okay with it", and then refused to explain further. "I'm Chopper," a teenager with rather concerning eyebags introduces himself, right before one of her students recognizes him and rushes towards, profusely thanking him for taking care of his ill elder sister some time ago.

"You're a doctor?" Asks Robin, raising an eyebrow, and just as Chopper starts to shake his head, scratching his neck embarrassedly, Luffy comes bounding around and says, "Yeah, Chopper's the best! He's really smart, Robin, like you!" He throws his arms around the other's shoulders and hugs him from behind, Chopper smiling like all his problems disappeared from his mind the second Luffy came around. "Usopp told me to come get you, because Zoro'd get lost and you'd get distracted, _again,_ and then Sanji'd get mad because you'd be late for dinner," he says to his friend, and Luffy grins at him.

"But we found a really cool new hideout, Chopper, come on! Vivi's really nice, even Nami agrees, and she says she doesn't mind us hanging around."

"We have our own hideout, and if you choose another then Usopp's going to be really sad, Cap," counters Chopper, and Luffy laughs and relinquishes his hold on the younger boy. 

"I like home, don't worry. Hey, Robin should come with us back home! She's nice and she tells stories, Usopp'd like her."

"If you want," shrugs Chopper. "But Sanji's going to be angry you didn't warn him that there's someone else at dinner."

"He'd be angry anyway," scoffs Zoro as he finally escapes his gaggle of children who think his hair and his scars and his scowl are all as equally cool. "Idiot's never not angry."

"Sanji's nice," affirms Luffy, "he won't mind. Robin, are you coming?"

"I-" says Robin, caught off-guard by the call, by how easily it had been decided that she'd come along and be welcomed. "I couldn't possibly-"

"No, you have to come! That way we can explain to Vivi that you're not a better teacher than her, you're just less-" Luffy scrunches his nose.

"Involved in the legal side of life?" Suggests Chopper. "I'm not sure that's going to make her feel better."

"Anyway! You should come! Sanji cooks really well. And Vivi's going to be at dinner anyway."

"Well, I'm just a teacher, you don't need to invite me-"

"No, you're our friend," states Luffy. "And you're really nice! So you should come to dinner!"

Robin searches for a reason to say no, but confronted with the brilliance of Luffy's smile, she gives up.

"I'd be delighted to," she says finally. Luffy grins brighter, and she feels, suddenly, as if this a moment to remember.

"Okay! Now let's go home!"


	11. this bullshit again (strawhats, koala&sabo)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: this bullshit again  
> characters: strawhats, sabo&koala  
> type: humor  
> spoiler level: post-Dressrosa  
> additional notes: I think I'm very funny  
> archive warnings: none apply

Nami's not sure who flinches the hardest when they spot Garp's boat approaching: Luffy or Sabo.

"Oh no, not Gramps- Sabo you gotta, you gotta- I punched him last time and he'll be so mad and you gotta protect me-" babbles Luffy, and Sabo almost says something then pales so fast that his partner almost looks concerned.

"Koala," he asks, in a very tightly controlled voice, "did we let Garp know I'm alive?"

"Yes," she answers, "by letter, as you asked."

"Koala," he repeats in the same tone, "why the fuck didn't you knock me out and save me from my own idiocy?"

"Now where's the fun in that," says Koala, which Nami can totally appreciate.

" _Sabo,_ " says Luffy. Usopp, concentrated on his Observation Haki, calls: "Errr, guys? They're going faster! And pulling out cannonballs!"

"Oh, no," says Nami very quietly.

"Oh, no," repeats Sabo, paling even more for probably another reason. "Koala, I became a Revolutionary. Koala, I made him think I was dead then became a _Revolutionary._ "

"Wait, you're working with his son, shouldn't he be proud?" Asks Usopp.

" _No,_ " hisses Sabo, looking terrified. Nami looks over to Luffy; their captain isn't doing much better.

"Maybe he's on vacation again?" She tries.

" _SHITTY BRATS,_ " comes from the other boat.

"...maybe not," she corrects. "Usopp, what does your Haki tell you?"

"We're fucked!"

Nami sighs again. "Captain, what do we do?"

_"LUFFY!_ " Garp roars from an ever-diminishing distance. "W _ait, no- SABO! Wait, still no- BOTH OF YOU!_ "

A cannonball sinks right next to Sunny.

"Oh, no," says Usopp.

"Why," groans Nami, and lets Usopp pat her on the shoulder sympathetically.

"Wait, I'm mad at him," says Luffy suddenly, and then- "HEY GRAMPS! DON'T DAMAGE SUNNY!"

"No, Luffy, don't-" lets out Usopp, just as their captain launches himself onto the Marine ship. "...and he's gone."

It's Nami's turn to pat Usopp on the shoulder.

"LEAVE LUFFY ALONE, SHITTY GRAMPS!" Shouts Sabo as he rushes to the fight too.

"Sabo, wait up- you idiot, you have a Devil Fruit, you can't swim anymore!" Calls Koala after him.

Nami and Usopp sink onto the deck.

"Why."


	12. training (garp)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: training  
> characters: garp  
> type: character study?  
> spoiler level: post-Marineford  
> additional notes: short  
> archive warnings: none apply

Garp doesn't put Coby and Helmeppo through the same training as he did for Ace and Luffy, and even Sabo, once Sabo was there.

Of course he doesn't. They're not his grandsons. They're already Marines. They're weaker. They're older.

It's not that the training is hard, or difficult, or dangerous. Garp himself went through it, as a child. It's perfectly safe. He's just- he's just been trying to keep them alive. The New World is dangerous, and they're children, yes, but they're Ds. (He already failed with Sabo.)

It's just that-

It's just that Ace and Luffy ran away from him when he came to visit, after a certain point. And a very, very, very quiet part of Garp wonders, sometimes, if the reason why they became pirates why they ran as far away as possible from him, was because-

but no, they're just scoundrels.


	13. fishman karate, koala&hack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: fishman karate  
> characters: hack, koala  
> type: character study of some sort  
> spoiler level: post-dressrosa  
> additional notes: short  
> archive warnings: none apply

It's in the name, when you think of it.

Fishman karate. This isn't a fighting style accessible to humans, and when Hack starts teaching it to Revolutionaries, he never expects any of his human pupils to get very far.

(Of course, there hasn't been one time in her life where Koala hasn't laughed in the face of people's expectations, but he hadn't known that, back then.)

It's useful, in a pinch, especially for humans with a Devil Fruit user as partner. To be able to control, or at least redirect water would and had saved a lot of people, many different times.

But Hack never expects any of his human students to master it. He barely expects them to be interested. He sets this class up for Fishmen, first and foremost, and so he doesn't expect the little girl showing up one morning to be good. To be great.

She takes longer than the Fishmen to get the basics of it; of course she does. She never threatens to give up, though, keeps gritting her teeth, and clenching her jaw, and pushes through with all the determination of a truly motivated child.

Hack doesn't- not help her, not exactly. But she's human, right? And this is Fishman karate. She's never going to be great at it, and she probably doesn't expect to be. Maybe she keeps training out of pure pride; out of an unwillingness to be bested by others, even -or especially- years her seniors.

So he more or less just- watches, from the sidelines, this little girl become great. It's very hard to deny that that's what she's doing, especially when she starts beating his other students round after round after round.

Hack watches, and corrects her stances, and points out her blind spots. He never expected it.

But he thinks that if Fishman Karate had to go to one human- then maybe it was right, that it went to Koala, who had never chosen to tread water, and had instead always dived right into the abyss, as the long as the abyss had something she wanted.


	14. it wasn't gold at the end of the rainbow, (koala)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: it wasn't gold at the end of the rainbow  
> characters: koala  
> type: character study of some kind  
> spoiler level: post-dressrosa  
> additional notes: none  
> archive warnings: none apply

Koala likes rainbows.  
  
She thinks she likes rainbows, at least. She's not quite sure what liking something feels like anymore; she remembers liking rainbows, before. That must mean she likes them now.

(She's trying to figure out what she likes, now that she can choose. It's a slow process, but the rest of the crew is more than willing to help her figure that out.

She likes listening to stories. She likes swimming. She likes knowing the names of the stars, she likes having a name, and she likes having the right to sit down and the sound of people laughing.

At least she thinks she does.)

Koala likes rainbow, because they're pretty, and even if there's red in it it doesn't remind her of blood.

In the stories Aladine tells (he tells stories well, Aladine. She thinks she likes him, too.), there's treasure at the end of the rainbow. It's a legend, he says; if you follow it to its end, you'll find what you want most in the world, he says.

Koala thinks at the end of her rainbows, there must be her parents.

(Legends aren't supposed to be real, sneers Arlong, and she turns at him and tells him she's not supposed to be free, either.

He doesn't say anything.

She's not sure she likes Arlong.)

Koala likes rainbows, and when they get to her home (her home!) she's barely able to believe it, and she tells her parents Aladine's story, enthusiastically. She tells them the ship must have followed the biggest rainbow ever, and everyone around her smiles, and she decides that she likes that; she likes it very much.

(As it turns out, at the end of the rainbow, there _is_ her home.

Stained in blood.)


	15. why would you do that, law

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: why would you /do/ that  
> characters: law  
> type: humor  
> spoiler level: post- or pre-dressrosa? either  
> additional notes: the funniest thing I've ever written  
> archive warnings: none apply

Law opens the door.

Closes the door.

Walks back to where Bepo is talking with Jinbe.

Buries his face in Bepo's fur.

"Traffy!" Calls Luffy, the _bane of his existence_. "Traffy, didn't you love it?"

"Strawhat-ya," starts to ask Law, in a very controlled voice muffled by Bepo's fur. His navigator hasn't even stopped talking to Jinbe when his _captain_ clearly requires help.

Mutiny, that is.

"Strawhat-ya, why would you _do_ that."

"You seemed down!" Explains Luffy, as if Law doesn't seem "down" every single moment of his life. As if his existence hasn't been filled with bone-deep exhaustion ever since he made the fatal mistake to ally with Monkey D. Luffy.

 _They tried to warn me_ , he laments in some part of his mind. _Doflaming was right, arrogance will be my downfall._

"I seemed down," he manages to get out, face still not out of Bepo's shoulder. "And so?"

"So I asked Franky to make something to cheer you up."

"Of course," nods Law. Up until there, he only has himself to blame. He would blame Franky or Luffy, but he's learned a long time ago that accomplishes nothing. "And then?"

"And then I asked your crew to help us sneak it onto your ship!"

"My crew, of course," nods Law. "They'd have helped. Well, I guess-"

_Wait._

" _My_ crew?"

"Yeah! Nami won't pick your locks anymore since you bribed her not to."

Thank the Seas for Nami, the only Strahwhat crewmember Law has any shreds of respect and even gratitude towards.

"My crew," repeats Law, just to be sure. " _My crew_ helped you sneak a 7-foot tall bronze statue of me onto our ship."

"Yeah! Those Satchel and Pillar guys?" Confirms Luffy.

"Strawhat-ya, you could not have cheered me up faster," says Law as he takes Kikoku out of its sheath.


	16. awesome, east blue crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: awesome  
> characters: usopp, nami, luffy, zoro  
> type: fluff  
> spoiler level: post-syrup village  
> additional notes: none  
> archive warnings: none apply

"Zoro, that's so cool!" Cheers Usopp from ahead as Zoro picks up yet another weight. Luffy, from his new seat on the Going Merry's figurehead, laughs, _shishishishi._ "Zoro's awesome!" He concurs.  
"You can't even see him!" Yells Nami from where she's been trying to coax him back on the deck since they left Syrup Village. "Luffy, will you *get back here*? I'm not rescuing you if you fall overboard!"  
"That's fine, Zoro will!" Calls Luffy, and Zoro just grunts.  
"Just don't fall overboard at all, you idiot!" Rages Nami, but their captain just ignores her.  
"I think you should just give up, Nami," says Usopp sympathetically. "I don't think he'll listen to you."  
"He better, I'm his navigator!" Hisses Nami, and Luffy turns his head unnaturally to grin at her.  
"I'm happy, Nami! I've been waiting to set sail for _years_!"  
"That's even more reason for you not to drown during the first week, then!"  
"Don't worry so much! Zoro'll find me, I said!"  
"He's as much an idiot as you are! Does he even know how to swim? ZORO! Do you know how to swim?"  
Zoro looks up at Nami's furious silhouette and scowls. "Of course I know how to swim, woman! Who do you take me for? _Who_ would set sail without knowing how to swim?"  
There's a pause, and then Nami gestures at Luffy with the most deadpan expression Usopp has ever seen her wear.  
"The- whe- that's different, he _can't_ swim!" Splutters Zoro, indignant.  
"That doesn't make it any better!" Yells back Nami at much the same volume. Luffy giggles from behind them.  
"Let's have an awesome adventure, everyone!" He cheers.  
(Usopp doesn't know those guys much, but he thinks he might have found himself an equally good crew as his father's.)


	17. world, coby&helmeppo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: world  
> characters:coby&helmeppo  
> type: character study, relationship study  
> spoiler level: post-east blue arc  
> additional notes: none  
> archive warnings: none apply

Coby is sixteen when he steps out of East Blue for the first time, and he almost considers writing his parents a letter.  
Maybe- maybe a _hello_ , a _I'm not dead_ , a _I'm doing this, you can't stop me_. Or a _sorry_ , a _I miss you_ , a _you said I could do anything, remember?_  
He doesn't do it, of course. That would require a bravery he just hasn't learnt to hold onto yet. Instead he stares at his head, callused and too small, until another sailor comes into the men's quarters and yells at him for being idle.  
He shouldn't mind, should be more than used to it after years on Alvida's ship, but he still flinches at the bark of a voice, and curls onto himself. It's reflexes, or fear; it's fine, it'll go away on its own.  
Under his feet the ship rolls and seizes. He grabs onto a wall to steady himself, closes his eyes, _one two three, breathe_ , and opens them to another's sailor shout.  
"Get out of the way!"  
His head is aching and his heart hurts, for some reason. He dismisses it as nervousness, or exhaustion; it's fine, it'll go away on its own. He moves out of the way, folds himself in two to let the cooks through, escapes to the deck. He's not sure what he's supposed to do, so he ducks a head into the meal hall, and shrinks back from the noise, from the people. _One two three, breathe, this is supposed to be home_ , but the knot in his throat won't listen and he's always been too good at giving up, so he steps back and back and back.  
The ship isn't big enough to get lost, isn't big enough to hide, and he doesn't know the people like he did in Shells Town, not even minimally so. He heads to the deck: the wind is blowing, and the sky is almost dark. He's out of breath, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. His hands shake. He chalks it up to seasickness, or doubt; it's fine, it'll go away on its own.  
The sea seems infinite and his fall too; he isn't sure if the ship moved, exacty, but he closes his eyes and he's upright, he opens them and he's not. "Careful, kid, could have gone overboard!" Yells the man on watch from the crow's nest, and he nods shakily. _One two three, one two three_ , but he can't seem to get the _breathe_ part down.  
He's out of East Blue, he's away from home. It sinks all at once, and he bites back a sob that's been building for years, he thinks.  
He's homesick, he's falling apart, he's- and it's _not fine_ , and it _never went away on its own_.  
The world is too big, too unknown, and he's _sixteen_.   
"Coby," says a voice from somewhere above him. "Hey, don't die, I can't do all the chores on my own."  
" _Helmeppo what am I doing_ ", he rushes to say, the words jumbled and panicked. What a picture he must make.  
"Well, you're certainly not doing laundry with me, which is what you were supposed to do, I'm pretty sure. You know, since I had to do your share."  
"Sorry," he apologizes reflexively, and then: "Helmeppo, we're- we're _so far from home_."  
The words are wet and pathetic, and Helmeppo must pretend not to notice. Coby isn't sure if it's kind or not.  
"Well, yeah," says the older man, sitting down at a respectable distance. "That's the point, isn't it."  
"The point?"  
"Yeah. Getting away from what you were? A brand new person? I mean, I know Garp worded it as "beating the cowardness out of you", but that's what he meant when he took us on, don't you think?"  
Coby sniffles. The four years between them seem to stretch for an eternity. The ship sways gently under his feet and he should be used to it, he had years on Alvida's, but it's military-grade and foreign, the ropes at the wrong places and the people everywhere. He'd bury his head between his knees if he didn't hate the idea of anyone seeing that.  
Isn't he supposed to be better, now? Braver? How can he do anything, when he still flinches away from loud noises, from crowded places, from everything and anything? The first thing Luffy called him was a coward and he was right, and maybe that's all he'll ever be, a coward. Always stalling, never actually doing anything.  
"I miss home," he ends up saying, quietly defeated.  
"Yeah, I noticed," shoots back Helmeppo. _He's terrible at the comforting people thing_ , notes the part of Coby that's not occupied with crying harder distantly, _keep him away from civilians if something happens_.  
He at least seems catastrophed with Coby's renewed tears. "Wait, no, I mean, me too? Uh- Come on, why are you crying, you're going to be great!"  
"You don't mean that!" Accuses Coby between tears.  
"Sure I do!"  
"I miss home and you _don't_ and I'm going to be _terrible_!"  
"You're not!"  
"I am!"  
"Alright, well look at it that way: if you're already terrible, there's nowhere to go but up!"  
"That's a _terrible_ way to comfort someone!"  
"Yeah, well you're my first friend, I didn't get to practice! And _you_ 're the one doing the comforting usually!"  
"That was one time and your dad almost killed you, I wasn't going to leave you alone!"  
"You already saved someone's life like thrice, you're obviously going to be great!"  
And as Coby opens his mouth to protest, Helmeppo swings his right arm wide, cutting through, and vehemently says:  
"No, shut up, you saved my life! I don't care what you think, even if you're terrible you're my _friend_. And if it all goes to shit I'll just go home with you, alright, is that better?"  
Coby closes his mouth.  
Blinks.  
"You will?"  
"Yeah, sure! You're going to be great anyway!"  
"You really think so?"  
"If I'm telling you-"  
"You could be lying."  
"I'm trying not to do that with you-"  
"But you could be."  
"I'm not _lying_!" Shouts Helmeppo, cheeks flushed with exasperation, fists going flying, and Coby laughs out loud, the sound piercing through the air. The knot in his throat is gone, his headache too; his heart feels fine and he can't stop himself from grinning.  
"Thanks," he says once he notices Helmeppo staring at him, bewildered. "The world feels less big when someone has your back."  
And Helmeppo softens, anger melting from his features, and raising an eyebrow, says:  
"Well, as long as you have mine, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my drabble collection! Those are all mostly character studies, though a little humor and some of my AUs may find their way in here. Updates will come as sporadically as everything I write, but enjoy!


End file.
